It is commonly known that upon retorting in sauces starchy foods such as pasta, rice, or vegetables lose their structural integrity. The foods become mushy, agglomerate and lose their structural appeal.
Firm or non-mushy macaroni, vegetable and rice textures are highly desirable for consumer acceptance in retorted food products. However, due to the severe high temperature, pressure and length of heating, fine textural attributes of macaroni, rice and vegetables are difficult to achieve.
Various attempts have been made to overcome the textural problem in retortable foods. Most efforts have been directed toward reformulating the composition of the starchy food component of the retortable foods without reformulating the sauces in which the starchy food is admixed. While this approach has worked reasonably well, it has not entirely solved the problem.
Less successful efforts have been attempted in engineering sauces used in retortable foods in order to increase the firmness of the starchy food or vegetable retorted therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,976 discusses reformulating the sauce in order to improve the textural properties of the retorted food product. The '976 patent specifies acidifying the sauce to a pH of less than 4.6 to reduce retort time and thus limit textural degradation of the starchy component of the food product.
The present invention, a sauce which preserves the physical integrity of starchy foods and vegetables retorted therein is a great improvement over the existing art. Further, a sauce which does not require reformulated starch components nor an acidified pH to enhance firmness in retortable pasta, rice, and vegetables is new and unique. The invention sauce is most effective in preserving the structural integrity of foods which absorb significant amounts of water during retort. Accordingly, the invention works best when admixed with dehydrated or dried foods.